Great Work

In alchemy, the Great Work is the process meant to culminate in the philosopher’s stone. Tradition divides it into phases named after colors: the nigredo, or blackening, of dissolution and decay; the albedo, or whitening, of purification; and the rubedo, or reddening, of completion. Read symbolically, it represents the path of inner transformation, from ordeal to fulfillment. Marguerite Yourcenar took from it the title of her novel L’Œuvre au noir, published in English as The Abyss.